Case Study

Intel® IoT Gateway Technology

Intel® IoT Platform
Intelligent Systems

Intel Creates
Smart Building Using IoT
Intel’s smart building increases energy conservation, operational efficiency,
and occupant comfort.

In 2016, Intel created its first Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled smart building
in Bangalore, India. The office building is a 10-story, 630,000 sq. ft. structure
that was outfitted with approximately 9,000 sensors used to track and optimize
temperature, lighting, energy consumption, and occupancy in the building. The
sensors, of which 70 percent are located in the ceiling, provide 24/7 real-time data.
Analytics is run on the data gathered from sensors to generate actionable insights
for Intel’s facilities team.

Challenges
• Reduce resource usage. Typical Intel office buildings use static building
management systems (BMSs) that have limited capabilities to intelligently control
energy- and water-related systems.
• Improve operational efficiency. Intel wanted to move to a mobile cubicle model
to accommodate more employees.
• Increase occupant comfort. Oscillating temperatures in the building typically
Author lead to many employee complaints about their zone being either too hot or
too cold.
Srini Khandavilli
IoT/Smart Building Program Director
Intel
Solutions
• Advanced building analytics. Reduce energy and water usage by better
controlling building systems using automation rules generated from sensor data.
• Space optimization. Increase cubicle utilization rates by employing occupancy
sensor data to help employees find vacant cubicles.
• Machine learning algorithm. Maintain a constant temperature in all building
zones by taking more environmental factors into account.

Impact
• Energy/water savings. The savings is forecasted to be $645,000 per year with a
return on investment (ROI) payback period of less than four years.
• Efficient office space. Intel increased employee capacity by approximately
30 percent.
• Productive workers. Socially driven temperature control can increase worker
satisfaction with workplace thermal comfort by 83 percent.1
Case Study | Intel Creates Smart Building Using IoT

Many buildings have a combination of proprietary systems that do not “talk” to each other.

Inflexible proprietary solutions

Many building and facilities managers are missing key
information they need to make fact-based decisions.
Although building systems are generating massive amounts
of data, it is often not captured nor presented in an easy-
to-understand fashion. A major reason is that buildings
typically have large numbers of stand-alone and proprietary
interfaces—this impedes the data sharing required to
thoroughly analyze building performance.
By today’s standards, many of these systems are inadequate,
inflexible, and costly, partly because they are based on
vendor-specific, proprietary technologies. Many vendor
solutions are hardware-based, which generally makes it more
complex to deploy new features and upgrades, compared to
software-focused solutions. As a result, modifying a legacy
BMS often requires customization by the manufacturer—a
costly and time-consuming process. Smart buildings created
using IoT technologies can overcome these flexibility and
capability issues.
Other business drivers for smart buildings are both
regulatory and operational in nature. With the focus on
reducing CO2 emissions in the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement,
the need to decrease energy consumption within buildings
is a high priority, and for good reason. In the European
Union (EU), for example, buildings are responsible for 40
percent of the energy consumption and 36 percent of the
CO2 emissions. 2 Around 75 percent of Europe’s building stock
is energy inefficient. 3 By improving the energy efficiency of
buildings, total EU energy consumption and CO2 emissions
could be reduced by about 5 percent. 2
There is also the need to address the occupant experience.
For instance, millennials entering the workforce expect more
services from buildings than their predecessors, which could
have a direct impact on employee satisfaction and retention.
Smart building solution
With the goal of increasing energy conservation, operational
efficiency, and occupant comfort, Intel designed a smart
building solution based on its IoT reference architecture.
IoT technology greatly simplified the task of collecting and
analyzing data from various building systems, including
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); water; energy
generation; occupant counters; and electrical. The building
also has a Power over Ethernet (PoE)–based smart lighting
system with sensors embedded in light fixtures to monitor
occupancy, temperature, and other environmental factors.
Data collection
Figure 1 shows a basic illustration of this IoT architecture.
Intel® processor-based IoT gateways act as the “central nervous
system” of the building, securely connecting to a variety of
smart sensors that monitor the building systems and ensure
an uninterrupted flow of data between them. Essentially, the
interoperability and data integration of the entire solution is
facilitated by these IoT gateways. The gateways have built-in
enterprise-grade security features, such as McAfee Embedded
Control*, that provide end-to-end security protection for the
network, building systems, and data.

Mobile Desktop Tablet

Intel Corporate Network

iBEMS
Intel Human Resources Intel Outlook
Services

Intel® IoT Intel IoT Intel IoT Intel IoT

Gateway Gateway Gateway Gateway

Lighting Energy Generation Smart Parking

Gas
P

Fixtures Lux Occupancy Solar Liquefied Energy Fuel Automatic Parking Parking Boom
Meter Sensor Plant Petroleum Meters Cells Number Plate Sensors Guides Barrier
Gas Tank Recognition
Cameras

HVAC Water Electricals Smart Systems Elevators

Cooling Chiller Variable Air and Air Handling Water Water Flow Uninterruptible Vacuum Circuit People Hot Elevator
Tower Refrigeration Volume Unit Pumps Tanks Meters Power Supply Breaker and Counter Desking
Automatic Transfer
Switches

Figure 1. IoT architecture for smart buildings

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Case Study | Intel Creates Smart Building Using IoT

Data analysis
Information Exchanger

Manageability
The building was also equipped with an on-premises BMS

McAfee Security, Secure Boot,

that handles the usual building automation tasks for various

(Ethernet, 3G/4G, Wi-Fi)

Cryptographic Engine
subsystems (e.g., HVAC and lighting). Intel added advanced Security Manager

Communication
building analytics and rules capabilities via an integrated
building energy management system, called iBEMS*, Config Manager Service Manager
from L&T Technology Services. iBEMS software runs in a

Environment
Runtime
distributed computing environment, including the gateway Scheduler Process Manager
software components shown in figure 2. On gateways, it
executes rules on sensor data, and on a server connected to
Events and Alerts Database Manager
the Intel enterprise network, it analyzes filtered data from
the gateway. Load Config
QoS Device Manager Webserver Interface

Use case examples Protocol Handler

To date, Intel’s smart building enabled 40 different use MS Outlook Solar Proprietary
cases. This section describes four use cases spanning
energy conservation, operational efficiency, and occupant Modbus TCP BACnet COAP REST ZigBee MQTT SNMP
satisfaction. In figures 3 and 5, blue lines indicate inputs and RTU
and red lines indicate actuation or outputs.
Open Source
1. ENERGY CONSERVATION
Conference room HVAC control Figure 2. Gateway technology stack Third-Party Developed
In the Intel smart building, closed areas, such as conference
Intel® IoT Gateway
rooms, represent approximately 18 percent of the total
floor space.4 These areas are good candidates for energy
conservation because when they are vacant, the HVAC Impact
and lighting systems can often be powered down to save By running the VAV boxes more efficiently, Intel projects
energy. However, many static BMSs maintain a constant a savings of 4 percent of its total HVAC costs, allowing
temperature in closed rooms irrespective of whether they the solution payback period to be less than two years. In
are occupied, booked, or vacant. addition, lighting energy usage in watts per sq. ft. dropped
Solution from 1.08 (Intel baseline design) to 0.39 (actual) through the
IT and IoT data is used to create the energy conservation utilization of natural light, daylight sensors, and LEDs.
solution shown in figure 3. The booking status of each The benefits are not limited to energy conservation. This use
conference room is collected from the IT corporate case also visualizes other important data, such as conference
calendaring system, and room occupancy status is obtained room utilization rates, which gives building space planners
from the previously mentioned, IoT-enabled PoE lighting the information they need to ensure the office configuration
fixtures in each room. These parameters are then integrated satisfies the needs of the occupants.
with the traditional input parameter of “return air temp”
to more efficiently modulate the variable air volume (VAV)
boxes in the conference rooms.

iBEMS Cloud
Chiller Efficiency Weather Information
Building Occupancy Consumption
Energy Consumption
Set Point
Modbus
Converter
Siemens Energy
Digital Data Control Meter

Parameters

BACnet/IP Configuration
Outside Siemens
Ambient BACnet
Temperature Elink York Chiller
Sensor Intel® Processor-Based
IoT Gateway Gateway

Flow
Meter
Figure 3. Solution for conference room HVAC control use case

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Case Study | Intel Creates Smart Building Using IoT

2. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
Automated demand response
In an effort to avoid involuntary service interruptions
(i.e., blackouts), utilities implement demand response
programs to entice their customers to lower energy usage
during periods when overall demand may exceed capacity.
Customers who participate are typically compensated
through lower rates and credits.
Solution
Intel’s smart building solution controls four energy sources:
diesel generation, solar, fuel cells, and the grid. It enables the
facilities team to remotely read energy meters connected to
the different energy sources, and, with the touch of a button,
change energy usage throughout the building. Both energy
consumption and generation are monitored and controlled in
order to meet an energy load profile that satisfies the utility’s
demand-response requirements. With this capability, Intel’s
smart building can take automated actions to reduce energy
consumption when the 90 percent threshold of the permitted
load is exceeded, as shown in the business logic illustrated in
figure 4.
Impact
This use case promotes the efficient usage of renewable
energy sources and avoids financial penalties for drawing
more energy than the sanctioned load from the utility grid.
The energy consumption of major building subsystems, such
as lighting, HVAC, and fans, etc., is decreased, as needed, per
their energy profiles. The facilities team can also ramp up
fuel cell usage when demand increases or solar cell energy
production dips on cloudy days.

Meter

Fetch load

Alert or demand
Compare response state
Sanctioned with
load sanctioned
configuration No Reverse demand
load response and stop
warnings

Normal state
State is
Load < 80% Yes normal Yes
Load is
normal

No

Alert state
Load > 80%
and Yes Warning sent
load < 90% through mail
and SMS
Figure 4.
Business logic for the automated No
demand response use case
Demand
response
Load > 90% Yes
Switch to
demand response
profile

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Case Study | Intel Creates Smart Building Using IoT

3. OCCUPANT COMFORT
Constant temperature across building zones
Temperature variation through the day is a common
complaint of building occupants.
Solution
To maintain a constant temperature across various building
zones, Intel implemented a machine learning algorithm that
predicts appropriate set points for the HVAC in the building.
The algorithm not only factors in typical parameters (e.g.,
return air temperature), it takes into account many others,
including occupancy and ambient temperature.
This algorithm runs every two minutes to keep set-point
predictions current.
Impact
This use case improves both employee and facilities team
efficiency. A study shows a socially driven HVAC at the
Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Phoenix increased
worker satisfaction with workplace thermal comfort by 83
percent,1 which should translate into higher productivity and
fewer tickets the facilities team needs to address related to
occupants being too hot or too cold.

Outlook Conference Room

Booking Status 10 10
Intel Corporate Air Handling Unit
Network 4

Outlook
3 Library
API Call
Pressure
Firewall Sensors
Variable
Frequency Chilled Water
Drive 9 8 9 Valve Actuator
Variable Air
Occupancy Status Volume
Position
5 6 7
BACnet/IP
BACnet/IP
Siemens Siemens
2 BACnet Variable Air
Digital Data Volume Box
Control
Intel IoT 8
Gateway
1

Occupancy Sensor JACE

Temperature Sensor

Figure 5. System interaction diagram for occupant comfort use case

4. OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
Mobile cubicle booking
A major concern of employees in other Intel office buildings is
finding a mobile cubicle to work in because it can be difficult
to identify which cubicles are unassigned and available for use.
Solution
Intel’s smart building solution allows employees to view
and reserve an available room for the day. The solution
creates this view by combining data from occupancy sensors
installed in each mobile cubicle (Figure 6) with data from the
cubicle reservation system.
Impact
The mobile cubicle booking application allows Intel to
maintain a mix of unassigned and assigned cubicles, with
about 20 percent of the cubicles designated as mobile. As
a result, Intel can accommodate approximately 30 percent
more employees in this building than if every employee was
assigned a permanent cubicle. This use case alone is expected
to save several million dollars in operational expense each
Figure 6. System-user interface for the mobile cubicle
year. Moreover, employees have the ability to plan their
booking use case
seating arrangement for the day at the touch of a button.

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Case Study | Intel Creates Smart Building Using IoT
IoT technology overview
The following sections provide more detail about the IoT
technology employed by Intel’s smart building solution. This
includes additional information on communication protocols,
rules, data integration, network and gateway security, and
provisioning of the solution. These capabilities are relevant
for any IoT-based solution for buildings.
Communication protocols, rules, and data integration
A challenge for building control is to bridge the different
communications protocols used by the various building
systems. This is one of the roles an Intel® processor-based
IoT gateway can play, acting as a central coordinator with its
ability to ingest messages on a variety of protocols such as
Modbus* TCP/IP and BACnet-IP.
The gateway can also process messages based on a set of
predefined rules (e.g., turn on VAV box when the lighting
occupancy sensor detects a presence). Rules that are time
sensitive and not compute intensive may run on the gateway,
while more complex rules should run on a cloud server.
The Intel smart building solution has approximately 5,000
rules divided between gateways and two backend, redundant
servers. Once the data is evaluated on the gateway, the
portion that requires further processing is transmitted to
the cloud in JSON format over the MQTT communication
protocol. Approximately 50 GB of data is generated via the
sensors on a daily basis, and this data set is distributed
across 60 IoT gateways. About 40 percent of the sensor data
is analyzed in the cloud. There is a backup and archiving
mechanism for purging raw data in the cloud.
Network and gateway security
Intel employs a network topology and security policies
specifically designed to protect against hackers trying to
access the Intel corporate network via the sensor network.
The topology physically isolates the sensor network from
the corporate network using a gateway that bridges the
two networks using separate interfaces for each. As for
security policy, the iBEMS software running on a server in
the corporate network is protected by a firewall. No Internet
connections from outside the firewall to iBEMS are permitted.
To secure data transmissions, the gateway encrypts
messages using OpenSSL and connects to clients over the
secure socket layer (v2/v3) and transport layer security (TLS
v1) network protocols. The gateway has a trusted platform
module (TPM) chip to encrypt applications and secure their
distribution.
1. Kevin Powell, Green Proving Ground program director, “Green Proving Ground: Smart Temperature Control Optimizes Comfort and Saves Energy.” April 18, 2016. https://gsablogs.gsa.gov/
gsablog/2016/04/18/green-proving-ground-smart-temperature-control-optimizes-comfort-and-saves-energy.
2. European Commission, Buildings webpage, ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-efficiency/buildings.
3. E uropean Commission, “Accelerating clean energy in buildings.” Pg. 2, November 30, 2016. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/ener/files/documents/1_en_annexe_autre_acte_part1_v9.pdf
4. Intel calculation from building drawings.
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That gateway itself is protected with secure boot and
application whitelisting software. Secure boot verifies that
the gateway’s operating system is in a known good state and
has not been tampered with. Application whitelisting ensures
only a predefined specific set of applications and middleware
are permitted to run on the gateway.
Provisioning
The gateway has preinstalled client software, permitting it
to communicate with the iBEMS server. The server on the
corporate network administers gateway software changes,
including operating system, drivers, and application
upgrades. The only required on-site configuration needed
is to enter the server URL of the upgrade server, which
also hosts the iBEMS application. On an ongoing basis, an
agent on the gateway checks for hardware configuration
changes stored on the server. Once a change is detected,
the new software updates are pulled from the server and
simultaneously installed on all gateways in the system.
Typical time frames for pull, install, and restart are less than
two minutes.
Summary
The Intel smart building in Bangalore implemented about
40 use cases, with approximately 55 percent focused on
energy conservation and operational efficiency, and the
rest on employee satisfaction. The relatively high number
of employee satisfaction use cases is justified by numerous
studies that indicate the associated increase in employee
productivity can have a sizably larger impact on top-line
growth than bottom-line improvements resulting from
energy conservation and operational efficiency. In addition,
smart buildings also create a positive image that can help
companies attract the best job candidates.
Building owners need to move away from closed and
proprietary BMS systems and toward open systems in order
to reap benefits from the latest technologies. The Intel
smart building is a step in this direction, treating the BMS
as a service and gaining the flexibility to select from a large
number of solution vendors.
Learn more
For more information about Intel’s solutions for
smart building, visit intel.com/IoT/smartbuilding.